Description

Published in 1994 to worldwide acclaim, the first edition of Jancis Robinson's seminal volume immediately attained legendary status, winning every major wine book award including the Glenfiddich and Julia Child/IACP awards, as well as writer and woman of the year accolades for its editor on both sides of the Atlantic. Combining meticulously-researched fact with refreshing opinion and wit, The Oxford Companion to Wine offers almost 4,000 entries on every wine-related topic imaginable, from regions and grape varieties to the owners, connoisseurs, growers, and tasters in wine through the ages; from viticulture and oenology to the history of wine. Tracing the consumption and production from the ancient world to the present day, the Companion is a remarkable resource for gaining further appreciation for a beverage whose popularity has only increased with time.

Now exhaustively updated, this third edition incorporates the very latest international research to present over 400 new entries on topics ranging from globalization and the politics of wine to brands, precision viticulture, and co-fermentation. Hundreds of other entries have also undergone major revisions, including yeast, barrel alternatives, climate change, and virtually all wine regions. Useful lists and statistics are appended, including controlled appellations and their permitted grape varieties, as well as wine production and consumption by country.

Illustrated with maps of every important wine region in the world, useful charts and diagrams, and stunning color photography, this Companion is unlike any other wine book, offering an understanding of wine in its many wider contexts - notably historical, cultural, geographic, and scientific - and serving as a truly companionable point of reference into which any wine-lover can dip, browse, and linger.

Reviews

"It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post

"Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--Town & Country

Named one of "20 Essential Books to Build Your Culinary Library" by the James Beard Foundation

A Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year".

"Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com

"Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast.

"This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue.

"It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com.

"An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week.

"It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits.

"The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times

Product Details

840 pages; 32 color photographs & over 80 maps, charts & lines; ISBN13: 978-0-19-860990-2ISBN10: 0-19-860990-6